The past month had been wonderful. Fluttershy’s relationship with the dashing prince had grown exponentially. So much so, that she was comfortable to allow him to stay with her to escape the dreary hotel. Every day she spent with him was better than the previous. She felt as though she were soaring toward the sun, floating higher and higher. But, as they say, what goes up must come down.
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Fluttershy was hard at work folding and setting away the blanket she had used overnight. Blueblood had straightened the bed and had begun to clean the living area. Angel watched him suspiciously. There was something about this stallion Angel didn’t trust. Blueblood turned to regard Fluttershy.
“I wish you would just sleep in your bed and permit me the couch.” Fluttershy shook her head vigorously. Though most ponies didn’t realize, she could be quite stubborn at times.
“No. You are my guest. You take the bed.” Fluttershy grinned as she set the blanket aside.
“Now, ready for breakfast?” Fluttershy walked into the kitchen, Blueblood following close behind. She picked up a plate of fresh pancakes and a large mug of steaming hot coffee.
Angel was certain there was something he was missing. Something the “gentlecolt” went to great lengths to conceal. He wanted to test this intruder’s resolve, and considered just the way to do so as his eyes rested on the mug of boiling coffee positioned on the table. He smiled cheekily as he crept, unnoticed, toward the cup.
He had to time it perfectly. Just as Fluttershy stepped toward the prince to deliver the syrup, he quickly pushed the cup and lept out of sight, so it would seem his guardian had in fact knocked the scalding liquid over. It poured off the table and splashed onto the pony seated beside it, who practically squealed in pain. Angel could see everything perfectly from his position. And he had seen far more than he would have liked.
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“It’s not at all like Fluttershy to be late,” Rarity stated, glancing to and fro worriedly. Twilight was also beginning to feel a bit uneasy. She, Rarity, and Fluttershy had agreed to meet for lunch at 12:00, and it was nearing a quarter to 1:00.
“Oh, there she is!” Twilight looked up to see Rarity more confused than relieved. Following her friend’s gaze, she understood why. A pair of thick sunglasses sat on Fluttershy’s face, as many other ponies were beginning to notice as well. Her smile still stood strong however.
“Um, Fluttershy,” Twilight began as the pegasus took a seat at her friends’ table, “Anything you’d like to share?”
“Hmmm? Oh, you mean these?” Fluttershy raised a subtly shaky hoof to tap the frame of the glasses. “Rarity made them for me years ago and I had completely forgotten about them until today.” The aforementioned unicorn glared at the shades.
“First of all, dear, I don’t make accessories. Second, if I did, I would not make something like that. The colors don’t match my usual designs. Now what are the glasses really for?” Rarity gave her a tender, caring smile. Fluttershy’s eyes darted between the two ponies before her as she tried to think of a way to alter the course of the conversation.
“Whew, it certainly is a warm day, hmm? How about that weather?” Twilight stood and gave the pony a very serious expression.
“Don’t try to change the subject, Shy. It won’t work. Take off the glasses.” Rarity looked sadly toward the unnaturally aggressive mare.
“Twilight, be gentle with her. Why so rash?” Twilight glared at the pegasus, who now appeared to have tears leaking from her eyes, and then looked to the ground.
“Because I know what the glasses are for,” she looked back to the weeping mare in front of her as she spoke. “I’m sorry. I should have told about his past when this first started. I should have stopped it.” Fluttershy couldn’t stand there any longer. She turned to leave, but was stopped as she collided face-first with a cyan blue coat.
“Woah! Sorry, Fluttershy. Are you o-” Rainbow was cut-off as she spotted the purple ring around her friend’s eye. She and Rarity stared. Twilight simply looked away. Fluttershy picked herself up and flew home as fast as her wings could carry her.
Rainbow maintained focus on the spot the other pony had just inhabited. Twilight, knowing the hot-headed pegasus all too well, immediately grasped Rainbow’s wings in her magic, an instant before she attempted to bolt into the air.
“LET! GO! OF! ME!” Rainbow was practically snarling, and her wings were moving faster than even Twilight thought possible. She staggered.
“Rarity! Help!” Rarity snapped out of her daze to assist in wrangling the blood-thirsty mare.
“I’M GONNA RIP OUT HIS ESOPHAGUS AND SKIP ROPE WITH IT!!” Twilight didn’t know what was more impressive: that Rainbow’s sheer power and rage was almost breaking the magical grasps of both her and Rarity, or that she knew what an esophagus was.
“Rainbow, calm down. Getting yourself thrown in a dungeon isn’t going to help the situation.” Rainbow glared at the lavender unicorn.
“Why didn’t you tell us about this?!” Twilight cast her eyes to the ground.
“I thought he’d changed. I’d hoped she could help him change.” In her mind’s eye, Twilight briefly recalled the many times she had witnessed the stallion being hauled away in chains. 30. 40. She couldn’t remember how many. Not that it mattered. Nopony dared lock up a prince of Equestria for more than an hour, regardless of the circumstances. The bar fights, the random acts of assault. Nothing. Not until that time.
She remembered seeing it when she was still barely out of fillyhood. The final straw. That poor, broken young mare. Barely breathing, lying almost motionless in that hospital bed. Celestia sentenced him to three days in a dungeon, and seven months in a camp devoted to reforming rebellious youths. Celestia found him unrecognizable when he had returned. But Twilight knew, deep down, that nothing had changed. She had lied to herself. Attempted to forget the horrible things his anger had brought on. And now her friend was suffering the consequences.
“This is my fault. I shouldn’t have let her get into this. But... I WILL get her out. Come on.” The three mares began walking towards their friend’s small cottage at the edge of the city, their anger, concern, and guilt rising with each step.